Library / English Dictionary

BY NO MEANS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (adverb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Definitely not

Example:

and that isn't all, not by a long sight

Synonyms:

by no means; not by a blame sight; not by a long sight

Classified under:

Adverbs

Domain usage:

colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)

Antonym:

by all means (definitely or certainly)

Credits

 Context examples: 

To be tied down to the regular payment of such a sum, on every rent day, is by no means desirable: it takes away one's independence.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

The study marks the most recent research published linking head trauma sustained while playing football to chronic brain injuries, though it is by no means conclusive.

(Study: Brain Disease Found in Nearly All Deceased US Football Players, VOA News)

I thought that I could read upon Fox’s dark face that he was by no means so confident about the Prince’s principles.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Remarkable, but by no means impossible,” said Holmes, smiling.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

But the cursory glance my father had taken of my volume by no means assured me that he was acquainted with its contents, and I continued to read with the greatest avidity.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

For myself I care not a denier, though it is a poor thing to meet one's end at the hands of such scum; but I have my dear lady here, who must by no means be risked.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

They would have had us share their caves with them, but Lord John would by no means consent to it considering that to do so would put us in their power if they were treacherously disposed.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

But that was by no means the worst of it, for after a day or two at sea he began to appear on deck with hazy eye, red cheeks, stuttering tongue, and other marks of drunkenness.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

I was a good deal surprised by this; for we were by no means in the habit of correspondence; I had seen the man, dined with him, indeed, the night before; and I could imagine nothing in our intercourse that should justify formality of registration.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Strongly-marked horizontal eyebrows must be traced under that brow; then followed, naturally, a well-defined nose, with a straight ridge and full nostrils; then a flexible-looking mouth, by no means narrow; then a firm chin, with a decided cleft down the middle of it: of course, some black whiskers were wanted, and some jetty hair, tufted on the temples, and waved above the forehead.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)